Ex-boyfriend accused of killing woman who went missing after her birthday party, then moving her body

MOSES LAKE, Wash. (TCD) -- A 27-year-old man was taken into custody for allegedly killing his ex-girlfriend and moving her body, which has yet to be found.

In a statement, the Moses Lake Police Department said Juan Gastelum, who also goes by the name Johnny Trujillo, was arrested in Pendleton, Oregon, on a warrant out of Grant County in Washington for charges of second-degree murder and second-degree rape.

According to Moses Lake Police, on Friday, March 4, officers went to the Heron Creek apartments for a call about a missing person, Yanira Cedillos. They learned that Cedillos was out the night before celebrating her birthday with some friends at Papa’s Casino.

Throughout the night, Gastelum allegedly called and texted Cedillos asking who she was with and where she was. The two reportedly lived together at one point.

In the late hours of March 3, just before midnight, Cedillos reportedly got into an argument with some of her friends and left. Cedillos reportedly called one of her friends and asked to be picked up on the 1000 block of Stratford Road, but Cedillos was nowhere to be found when the friend arrived.

The friend reportedly called Cedillos again and "could hear a male in the background yelling and asking who was calling." The phone got disconnected and that was the last anyone heard from her. Her family reported her missing after she failed to show up to work on March 4.

During their investigation, detectives reportedly concluded Gastelum picked up Cedillos and drove her back to her apartment. They got there before midnight, and detectives say she was killed in her apartment. According to Moses Lake Police, Cedillos' body was "moved post-mortem."

Detectives reportedly have evidence that the last time she was alive was "a few minutes after midnight, approximately seven minutes after they arrived at the apartment."

Surveillance footage allegedly showed Gastelum cleaning out his car at a local gas station early the next morning. Detectives reportedly spoke with Gastelum and initially kept him out of jail in case he led them to Cedillos. Her body, however, has not yet been found.

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